Post 15: Selfies and how to deal with it ( Beta Post )

Hello this is Russell here. Over these few years, selfie has evolved from a leisure activity to a must have daily routine for some people in the world. If you have never taken a selfie, that means you are considered outclass and not "cool". So what are we gonna talk about today? We are going to talk about selfies. Yes, SELFIES.


What is Selfie? Sure you have seen many before unless you have lived in a cave or lost contact with the world for the past few years, a selfie is a person taking a picture of himself/herself with a camera facing their faces. Here are two examples of selfies:






















These are the two different types of selfies. One very beautiful and one so terrible I want to throw it into the trash. Which one do you prefer? I prefer the good one of course. Unless you are very drunk or a troll like no other you will not like the horrible one right? Or if you have no common sense you will have no idea which one is beautiful and which one is not.

To make the perfect selfie,

Things to do.......

1. Capture a good angle
Instead of taking the picture head-on, experiment with different angles to show off your features. If you turn your head a few degrees to the right or left, your features will appear less flat. Holding the camera slightly higher than your head so that it's pointing down on you will make your eyes look bigger and help you avoid "pig nose." Here are a few other ideas for finding a good angle:

• Know your "good side" and take the photo from that side of your face. It's the side of your face that looks the most balanced and symmetrical.
• Angling the camera slightly above yourself and taking a snapshot of your face and chest will highlight your cleavage. Since this position is fairly unnatural, odds are, you already know what the camera will focus on when you take a selfie like this.

2. Pay attention to good lighting

Having a solid light source is an essential part of taking any kind of photograph, and selfies are no different. If you try to take a selfie in a dimly-lit room or one with harsh fluorescent lighting, it won't turn out the way you want it to. Natural light is the most flattering kind, so try to take your selfie near a window or outdoors. Keep these factors in mind when you shoot:

• Keep the sun or other light source in front of you, a bit above eye level, for the most flattering shot. The light will brighten and soften your features, rather than casting harsh shadows across your face. If it's off to the side or behind you, your features could appear shadowy or distorted. ^[2]
• Consider using a thin curtain to diffuse sunlight or a single light source. It makes the light softer and more flattering. It will give the impression of smoother, softer facial lines so that your smile appears more attractive.
• Natural light renders colors more faithfully than artificial light, but you can use artificial light to fill shadows. If you don't have the best lighting, most modern digital cameras have some automatic color correction to make up for it.
• Don't use your flash if you can help it. It'll create a forehead glare, distort your appearance and possibly give your selfie the redeye effect.

things not to do.....

1. No duck faces: Seriously that is the most horrible thing humankind has ever done. Just stop no one will like it.

2. Avoid using front cameras: The front cameras normally has lower resolution than the back camera. Although you can't see how you look on the back. You can always take a selfie again right?

3. Do not take a selfie in inappropriate locations: Some examples of it can be seen below. Taking selfies at the right location is key. So that people won't think you are crazy or be the laughing stock in the internet.

I am very sorry if I have not posted anything for quite some time. I am a little lazy and I kinda got addicted to a game so sorry everybody! Anyway I hope you like it and although it can be a little short it really is a helpful tip to take good selfies.

Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash‘ its app of the week for this week. This means you can pick the game free from now on through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store, saving yourself as a  healthy buck.

For those who haven’t  actually played the game, Monster Dash is a survival game. As you race through levels, you also need to avoid and/or kill the monsters. It's cool, right?


Monster Dash has been out for several years, and had been somewhat forgotten about, but it received a significant update yesterday that brought it back to life with new monsters, upgrades and of course iPhone 6 support.

Monster Dash is regarded by some as one of the best runner games of all-time. So if you haven’t already downloaded it in the past, it’s worth grabbing while it’s free. The game is universal, and you can find it in the App Store.


Here is a new trailer for the updated game:

Being a Malaysian, what does that feel like?

I am writing pretty much lately, because Russell is busy with his Java, and I'm not that busy with my Swift. So, let's get into the main topic.

Me and Russell are both Malaysians. If you are from the US, one of the most advanced countries in the world, you might be wondering, what does it feel like being a citizen of some third world countries? Just like where I am now, Malaysia. What does it feel like living here? You won't know unless you live here for at least a year or two.

1. Electricity and Internet usage 

I am living in the state of Sabah, which is in the Eastern Malaysia (Borneo). This place is not that advanced compared to the other side of Malaysia. We don't have fast WiFi speed. The fastest in my city is only about 500KB/s if I have not mistaken. We don't even have LTE networks available, we are still sticking to the old 3G, but we still can live. The thing that bothers us a lot is powercuts. In my town, we will face powercuts for at least twice a month, which sucks.

As you can see, Sabah and Sarawak are at the East and the other states are at the west.

2. Language, Race and Religion 

First, there are mainly three types of people in Malaysia, which are Malay, Chinese and Indian (I'm a Chinese). We live together in the same country along with some other small races. But the main people you will see if you come to Malaysia are the Malay. Because of that, we usually speak Malay when we go out. When we see Chinese, we speak Chinese. When we see Indians (or any other races), we still speak Malay. But, we do learn English. What is that used for? Just to be used when we need it, such as during exams, meeting with foreigners or so. We as Chinese must learn all three languages if we are studying in Chinese schools. In other schools, Chinese is an exception. This is an Islamic country BUT we are still get the freedom to choose our own religion.

3. Entertainment 

Unlike the US, we don't have a lot of popular superstars or big movie-making companies, like Hollywoord or Bollywood. But Astro (a TV and entertainment company) have some great Chinese singers and a Chinese New Year movie every year, which is pretty nice. This year's movie is called "The Journey" Some Chinese comedians here is Ling Big Yong and Joseph Gemani

This is the Astro logo

4. Food and Culture
Malaysia is a multiracial country. The benefits of a peaceful multiracial country is that we can get to share our culture and food. For example, during Chinese new year, everyone is allowed to celebrate. Other than that, the variance of food that we can eat is so much that we will get crazy. Malay and Indian people cook hot and spicy food where our Chinese people cook some "gentle to the tongue" type of food. If you happen to live in Sabah or Sarawak where the native people are still living, you even get to know their traditions and special food. The Iban people who lives in Sabah and Sarawak has a special kind of fermented rice wine.

Nasi lemak, a popular Malay dish

A picture of a dragon show during CNY

The iPhone 6 models hit Malaysia!

After about 2 months of waiting, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which made the biggest sales in the first week record in smartphone history, finally hits Malaysia. The flagship smartphones took the Unitad States and a lot of other countries by storm, hopefully it will do the same to Malaysia.

The iPhone 6 starts from RM2399, which is the same with the iPhone 5s launch last year, while the iPhone 6 Plus starts from RM2749. RM250 for a bigger screen, and optical image stabilization. Both iPhone models feature in 3 different storage sizes, which are 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. A cost of around RM300 is needed for every storage upgrade. It features in 3 colors as usual, which are Dark Grey, Light Grey and Gold.

The iPhone models are now available for ordering right here

Free shipping is provided.

If you wish for a locked model, you can contact your carrier company (Maxis, Celcom, DiGi) to sign a contract at a lower price compared to an unlocked model.

If you are still worried about the bending problem, just forget about the issue. Think about it, millions of units sold, 9 complaints ONLY. Just don't do stupid things like sitting on your phone, deliberately bending it or get involved in a car accident (which is sometimes unavoidable).

Happy using your new iPhones.

Carlson out.

Post 14: I will be tuning down for a while

Hey guys! This is Russell here and I have some bad news for you. Well here is the thing, I will not be posting as much as before. I am deeply sorry about that but I do have an explanation. I will not post as often as before because I am learning a new language. You guys might think that I am learning some foreign language such as Spanish or Russian but no, I am learning a language that is much more complicated than anything you could imagine. I am learning Java. If you wanna know what is Java. You can click here to go to the wikipedia webpage of Java.

I love computers and I wanna merge with it. Well not literally but you know what I mean. I wanna learn more about the advanced features of the computer and eventually, create a program or even a game if I am experienced enough.

On the other hand, Carlson is also learning programming. The only thing that is different here is that he is learning Swift, a programming language used to program apps for IOS and MacOs. He is quite a fan of Apple so you know why he wanna learn this.

So no bad feelings about this right? We will still post every week but the frequency of new posts showing up will not be as much as now. So I will catch up with you guys later!

~Russell

Fifa 15: Ultimate Team on iOS & Android

Since Fifa 15 was released for free on the App Store months ago, I downloaded it and started being in love with it. I am a football fan, Manchester City fan in exact (Manchester United fans please don't hate me), and I find this game amazing.

I was a player of Fifa 14, and there are some obvious changes. As we all see, Fifa 15 comes with the words "Ultimate Team" which means the game requires an internet connection to play, as it is the requirement of ultimate team in Fifa 14. EA Sports took out the offline "penalty shootout" game mode, kept the "games of the week" but you still need to be connected to the EA Server, which requires internet connection.

The one change I wished to but didn't happen is the home screen. It is still featuring the same character, Lionel Messi, the best player in the game, having an overall rating of 93 (97 in form). Why not have a change to get Cristiano Ronaldo on the home screen of the game, he is now said to be the best player in the world as Lionel Messi starts to fade away. I think EA Sports should give CR7 a chance.

Now, let's get started to explore my thoughts and the special things about the game.

First, the team of the week. Every week, a team of 11(plus 10 substitutes) will be picked to form the team of the week. The players will change from regular gold, silver or bronze colored into dark-sided.

These players are called in form players. The photo above shows the team of the week of this week. The most important thing about the team of the week is, by matching them, we can get a lot more money than regular matches.

In the picture above is the most expensive,valuable and high rated player in the game, Lionel Messi. This is the image of the transfer market, the most glorious place in Fifa 15: UT. In the transfer market, you can find any player to fit in your team and make your team a better one. Sometimes, this is all about luck, you bid with real players live online, so if you're lucky, you'll face some poor folks and you can win some players at considerably low prices.

The second top rated player in the game plus, in my opinion, the best player in the world.

The best goal keeper in the game and in reality.

This is a game that let me have the thinking of me being a manager.

This is my team for now, not really good as I have the top players in MCFC missed out due to financial difficulties.

If you or your friends haven't started playing Fifa 15: Ultimate Team, I highly recommend it as it is best football game out there.

Happy playing, and scoring, and bidding. 

Carlson out.

Movie Review 2: Interstellar ( BETA POST )

Hey guys it is me again for yet another movie review of the brand new Interstellar movie! But before I give the review, here is the whole plot of the story.

Synopsis

In the near future Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen their lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage, into the unknown. However, through the wormhole, one hour is the equivalent of seven years back on Earth, so the mission won't work if the people on Earth are dead by the time they pull it off. And Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

This movie is very emotional as Cooper, the pilot of the Endurance, loves his daughter, Murphy and promised to her that he will be back soon. When those 3 hours at Miller s planet means 23 years back on Earth, and when Mann almost destroyed their entire project. It was sad in the ending. I can't tell you anymore since I will spoil the movie. But I can tell you that it will make you jump out to space!

The actors of the movie did really well and I will give them a thumbs up for the acting. The story is quite hard to understand and you will need to know Quantum Physics to really understand it (Just kidding). Graphics wise it looks very beautiful and the scenery will just blow your mind out.

Will I recommend this movie? 100% yes. I don't understand why some critics think that it is not good. The story might be a little hard to understand compared to other movies (like Transformers which doesn't require you have a brain) but once you get the hang of it the whole story will unravel itself.

My final score on this movie: 85/100

The black hole in the movie. You can also see a small planet there.

Movie Review 1: Nightcrawler

First of all, I bet none of you guys have ever seen this movie. The reason I think so because when I walked into the movie theatre there was no one there, just my dad and I.

This movie is a psychological thriller so it is pretty exciting and scary.

He got very angry to find out that his rival got the news footage faster than him..

Synopsis

An ambitious young crime journalist probes the dark underbelly of L.A. in this cynical urban drama that marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy (Real Steal, The Bourne Legacy). Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhall) is a petty thief in search of a payday when he stumbles onto the scene of a grisly car accident, and witnesses seasoned "Nightcrawler" Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) gathering video footage for a local news broadcast. Convinced that this is a career he could excel at, Lou promptly purchases a police scanner and a cheap video camera, and hits the streets. In short order Lou has hired an assistant (Riz Ahmed) to help him navigate the city streets, and started selling footage to local TV producer Nina (Rene Russo), one of Joe's regular buyers. As fast learner with an eye for detail, Lou isn't above manipulating a crime scene in order to get a picture that tells a story. When Lou beats the police to the scenes of a deadly home invasion in an affluent neighborhood, however, his shocking footage catches the attention of two homicide detectives who suspect he's hiding evidence that could be crucial to their investigation. Meanwhile, that footage may be just what Lou needs to enter the big time. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Educational value:

 The ugly side of human nature. People are willing to cross the line in order to get what they want... 

What I learned from this movie: 

Being a bad guy can be pretty rewarding. But don't you try to copy the bad guys... 

Did I enjoy it?

 Yes. yes I do. This movie will keep you on your toes as Lou keeps finding news to film and his assistant makes him kinda mad.

Would I recommend it? If you wanna see a thrilling yet full of story movie. This is it. They are blood and gore though.

Wow factor: There is a twist in the end so I gotta say WOW.

Score: 8/10

If the movie is so great, why no one is seeing it?

 This movie ain't your blockbuster Hollywood Transformers yo. It's a low budget movie with limited publicity but it doesn't mean it's no good. It's actually very good! 

Post 13: Civilization Beyond Earth ( BETA POST )

Warning: this post is not finished so I strongly advice you to stop reading and read the others but if you insist I cannot stop you. There may be some grammar mistakes as well.

Next Big Game? We shall see

When humanity is in the verge of extinction, they sent an idiotic newbie leader ( me ) into deep space to find a new home for humanity. As I watch Earth getting more and more further away, I said to myself: " This will not go well......"

Whether you are battling super alien worms or battling other civilizations, you always get yourself into trouble. That is the Russell newbie 100% guarantee. Of course I am playing on the hardest difficulty ( Apollo ) so do not expect me to win any victories because before I reach any of those victories I get destroyed by other civilizations or a damn siege worm. Before I start on this post, I wanna warn you, it might contain some stupid scenes that no human has been before.

If you wanna know what Civ: Beyond Earth is, it is basically a turn based strategy simulation game where you take control of a faction and live on a new world facing both other rival factions and aliens. For first timers this will look pretty hard but once you advance to the mid-game you will find aliens very easy to kill ( Except for that siege worm and kraken )

First of all, you need to select your sponsor A.K.A country that will fund you into space. During those times the government is busy dealing with India ( Gandhi super nuclear weapons ) But of course, the KP is basically India so I recommend staying away from her ( I think she is Gandhi's daughter ) So during then, they need those big companies ( ARC is basically Google in disguise ) to send people into space. After that you need to select a spacecraft, cargo, planet, colonist. All will give you different perks and will effect your play style. But ultimately, the thing that effects your play style the most is the affinities. Affinities are basically ideologies that will advance your civ to another kind of human. You may like to merge with the alien world so you go with Harmony. You may also like to use tech and crush the world with an iron fist ( I used this but failed ) or you may wanna change the world to Earth 2. It all depends to you.

To win the game, you need to accomplish at least one of the few victories. Domination means you win by destroying every capital of other civs. The Promised Land is teleporting Earthlings into the new world and settling them. Contact is a victory where you establish contact with another alien civilization that settled here a long time ago but did not survive. Emancipation is teleporting your units back to Earth to liberate them from their weaknesses. Transcendence is connecting the human consciousness to the alien world

When you make planetfall into the new planet. You will be given an explorer unit to roam around the new world. They may be resource pods, which gives you a solar collector, energy, science or culture. Your explorer may also conduct an expedition if you are on a artifact of some kind. Which when completed will grant you a boost of some kind.

The alien world is surrounded in miasma, a toxic gas which kills your troops and heals aliens. But if you go with the Harmony Affinity your troops will actually heal from miasma so you might wanna think clearly if miasma is friend or foe. Aliens also kind of act as miasma. They kill your troops but if you use Harmony they might actually help you in destroying your rivals' cities.

 If you are an civ 5 player ( like me ), you will find the game not that much different from civ 5. I think that it is actually a reskin or DLC of civ 5 and I think it really isn't worth the money to buy it right now. But if you never played the civ series and you wanna jump on in, I think you should do it. Overall, this game has a score of : ?/100

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Reason why I do this: I really dislike writing for very long periods so I do this so you guys won't get bored. I hope you will like this but if you don't leave a comment so I will stop it.